Thursday, October 17, 2013
Scammers posing as United Nations World Food
Programme (WFP) employees are selling fake WFP ration cards to
internally displaced people (IDPs) in Mogadishu, WFP said in a statement
Monday (October 14th).
The scammers claim the cards are required to receive food from the
WFP, but in reality the cards are fake and payment is never required to
get food from the WFP.
"WFP is concerned about the fraudulent use of its name in efforts to
cheat vulnerable Somalis, and calls on the authorities to take action
against the culprits," said Stefano Porretti, WFP representative for
Somalia. "As a humanitarian organization, WFP categorically condemns
those seeking to profit from the plight of the poorest people who have
already lost so much. WFP never asks for money in order to be enrolled
in its programs."
WFP maintains hot meal centres in Mogadishu, which provide cooked
meals for more than 75,000 people on a daily basis. In addition, the
agency provides nutritional advice to malnourished mothers and young
children.
WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency offering food
assistance worldwide, and its work in Somalia aims to alleviate hunger
and improve coping mechanisms.